I think we’ve been talking past each other and missing the
point-who cares what box Latinos check off when they identify themselves on
government forms? What matters to me is how they act, vote, treat other minorities,
and what they may do with that newfound “whiteness”. Does that whiteness come
with the same white privilege and dominance, or will they see it as merely a
description? I think the latter is true. The number of new interracial
marriages from Pew poll is only 275,000, of which 43% or 118,00 were Latino-White,
and of all Latino new marriages 25% were interracial. So, about 75% married other
Latinos. That means the vast majority of Latinos are going to continue to be
brown and those that identify as white are going to continue to have black and
brown relatives whom they love. Unlike Irish immigrants, they can’t simply
learn to speak with a different accent in order to shed their “otherness”.
Unlike past immigrants there’s really no need to.

"still not sure why it is thought they will suddenly band with other minorities"

Because every bit of political and issue polling evidence says they already have. They're increasingly voting Democratic with 71% of their vote share going to President Obama in 2012. They're increasingly becoming more activist on issues of healthcare, income inequality, strengthening the social safety net, racial minority civil rights, police brutality, the drug war, voting rights, gun control, etc. These are issues on which we are aligned. They are apart of the Obama Coalition. It's not my opinion they will band with other minorities, it's a fact that they most definitely have politically. And politically is really all that matters. Yes, they have issues that may not be as big a deal to black folks and we have issues that may not necessarily be as significant to Latinos. But, even the modern civil rights movement has taken up immigration reform as a civil rights issue. There is definitely a belief within the activist community that all of our issues as minorities are common cause.

I guess that’s where I respectfully disagree. To me, how you
vote is everything. Be it quality education affordability and access,
healthcare, financial security (women lose out on over $400,000 in wages in our
lifetime because of wage inequality), taxes, civil rights, reproductive
freedom, etc. these things determine our quality of life and access to
opportunity.

Many of the struggles the black community faces are in large
part a direct result of public policy. Trayvon Martin might be at a college
dorm right now laughing with his friends were it not for this country’s gun
policy or lack thereof. The inner cities would be teeming with industry were it
not for policies in the 80’s that busted up unions and rewarded companies for
sending jobs overseas. Were it not for our idiotic drug policy, black men
wouldn’t be more likely to be dead or in prison. Our communities wouldn’t be in
such disrepair if we had fair taxation policies that didn’t allow the rich to
pay lower tax rates than the middle class. Detroit
didn’t become Detroit because of
corrupt Democratic mayors, it got that way under Republican governors who
siphoned the city dry. That two day pile-up in Atlanta
during a mild snow storm wasn’t because Kaseem Reid didn’t do enough to
prepare. It was because of the white suburbs and their slash and burn tax
policies that left them unable to clear the roads.

I don’t really need someone of any racial persuasion to be
my friend or ally on a personal level or to feel my pain. I need them to vote
in a way that helps improve my economy and protects real freedom, like the
freedom to not die of a preventable disease or get mowed down by some piece of
isht with a gun. As far as I’m concerned, Latinos or any group are welcome to
hate the hell out of us as long as they don’t stand in the way of our progress.
And elections decide how and whether we progress or regress.

Thanks, Samone. I've really enjoyed our discussion. It's so wonderful to be able to have respectful, intelligent discussion with other black women. Too many of us can tell you everything that ever happened on Basketball Wives, which I love too, but don't really know what's going on in the world around them.

Because every bit of political and issue polling evidence says they already have. They're increasingly voting Democratic with 71% of their vote share going to President Obama in 2012. They're increasingly becoming more activist on issues of healthcare, income inequality, strengthening the social safety net, racial minority civil rights, police brutality, the drug war, voting rights, gun control, etc. These are issues on which we are aligned. They are apart of the Obama Coalition. It's not my opinion they will band with other minorities, it's a fact that they most definitely have politically. And politically is really all that matters. Yes, they have issues that may not be as big a deal to black folks and we have issues that may not necessarily be as significant to Latinos. But, even the modern civil rights movement has taken up immigration reform as a civil rights issue. There is definitely a belief within the activist community that all of our issues as minorities are common cause.

I think a lot of why they voted Democrat this time around as a whole has to do with the illegal immigration situation, and how unfavorably the Republicans talked about it as a whole. And despite that, both parties actively try to court the "hispanic vote". It is assumed the majority of blacks in America will vote Democrat so neither side really courts us.

Let the Rebublicans start to dangle some carats their way, that vote will shift quickly.

Because every bit of political and issue polling evidence says they already have. They're increasingly voting Democratic with 71% of their vote share going to President Obama in 2012. They're increasingly becoming more activist on issues of healthcare, income inequality, strengthening the social safety net, racial minority civil rights, police brutality, the drug war, voting rights, gun control, etc. These are issues on which we are aligned. They are apart of the Obama Coalition. It's not my opinion they will band with other minorities, it's a fact that they most definitely have politically. And politically is really all that matters. Yes, they have issues that may not be as big a deal to black folks and we have issues that may not necessarily be as significant to Latinos. But, even the modern civil rights movement has taken up immigration reform as a civil rights issue. There is definitely a belief within the activist community that all of our issues as minorities are common cause.

I think a lot of why they voted Democrat this time around as a whole has to do with the illegal immigration situation, and how unfavorably the Republicans talked about it as a whole. And despite that, both parties actively try to court the "hispanic vote". It is assumed the majority of blacks in America will vote Democrat so neither side really courts us.

[COLOR=#9900cc][/COLOR]

Let the Rebublicans start to dangle some carats their way, that vote will shift quickly.

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